NH Tick Control and Lyme Disease Control

Here are some scary facts about Lyme Disease in New Hampshire

Lyme disease is the sixth highest notable disease in North America and continues to rise.

Lyme disease is only found in thirteen states in the U.S. This small concentration of confirmed cases of the disease means the case load of Lyme within these 13 states is epidemic. New Hampshire is one of these 13 states, with over 1,000 new cases being reported each year.

A little over twenty years ago only 3 towns in New Hampshire had recorded Lyme disease. In 2012 the numbers of towns in New Hampshire reporting the disease were an astounding 119!

The blacklegged tick, also called the deer tick, is the vector (or bugger!) responsible for the spread of Lyme disease to humans and pets. Deer ticks can live up to 2 years. During its lifetime the tick can indulge on up to 3 blood meals. This means the tick has the potential to transmit many tick-borne illness, such as Lyme onto a host on 3 separate occasions. All sizes of blacklegged ticks can spread Lyme disease.

Don’t let the word nymph fool you into thinking it’s something small and cute. Nymph ticks are baby ticks and are more likely to pass the most disease to their victims. This is attributed to their ability to avoid detection due to their size. Some nymph ticks are no larger than a poppy seed found on top of a bagel! In order for a tick to transmit Lyme disease onto its host successfully it must stay attached for 36-48 hours. The tiny size of a nymph tick makes staying attached to its host (people and pet) easier.

Lyme disease is facilitated by white-footed mice, East coast chipmunks, and Robins in SoNH. These rodents and birds carry the bacterium that causes Lyme disease and pass them onto ticks that feed on them. Tick latch onto small rodents where they end up taking the tick back into their nests. Ticks use the blood meal to grow, and the infection just goes along for the ride. Once the tick has engorged itself on the blood of its rodent host, it falls off. The tiny nymph tick then gets picked up by humans or pets becoming a new host placing us at risk to contract Lyme disease. Children in particular are the most vulnerable because they tend to play in areas where ticks live. There is a higher incidence rate for Lyme disease in children and the effects of the disease can be more damaging because children are still developing.

Deer are important, however. They are the main reproductive host for the adult aged Blacklegged ticks which are also capable of transmitting Lyme disease.

Mosquito Squad of Southern New Hampshire is dedicated to keeping you safe from Lyme disease with our tick intensive control and prevention program. Our program combines safe and effective barrier sprays that kill adult ticks with our tick trap applications which target baby nymph ticks. This enables us to break the life cycle and the chain of disease.

Tick traps interrupt the life cycle of the tick eliminating the tick before it has a chance to spread infection to you, your loved ones or your pets. Tick traps are environmentally friendly and contain cotton that is treated with a tick-killing chemical. The mice take the treated cotton back to their nests where the larval and nymphal tick perishes from exposure to the tick killing chemical. The tick then never reaches a level of maturity that will enable it to feed from a human host. The traps are safe for the rodents, and even help them out in feathering their nests! Tick traps can reduce the chance of coming into contact with a tick on your treated property by up to 97%.

Mosquito Squad of Southern New Hampshire is a mosquito and tick control system that virtually eliminates mosquitoes, ticks and other flying pests from your yard when using our barrier spray. We also provide special event and commercial barrier control sprays. Mosquitoes and ticks are carriers of West Nile Virus and Lyme disease. Take back your yard by implementing the Mosquito Squad barrier control spray system throughout this spring and summer. At Mosquito Squad of Southern New Hampshire, our motto is Live Free or Die.

Contact us to learn more about the most effective way to protect yourself and your loved one from Lyme disease.